Fall 2020/Fuller Online

IS500

Bangs

IS500: PRACTICES OF VOCATIONAL FORMATION (4 Units: 160 hours). John C. Bangs.

DESCRIPTION: Christian practices constitute the Christian life. The combined Christian practices of vocational formation, worship, community, and mission facilitate the integration of personal, spiritual, academic, and global formation into the vocational coherence of a Christian leader through reflection, relationships, and practices. IS500 teaches students a method for integrating resources of theological method into faithful responses to the human condition. As an integrative course, it explores the identity and practices of Christian vocational formation as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (listening, discernment, guidance, lament, rhythms of rest, and stewardship) fashioning them into a Rule of Life that shapes and supports the student’s vocation in order to form students who demonstrate capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Students will have demonstrated capacities to critically reflect on their current and past experiences of Christian practices of vocational formation. (2) Students will have demonstrated through participation in local contexts the capacity to engage in activities and exercises related to Christian spiritual disciplines and practices of vocational formation. (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of vocational formation. (4) Students will have articulated how vocational practices impact their response to the Central Integration Question (CIQ) and will identify exercises, habits, and disciplines to embody these practices within their sociocultural context.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will introduce students to one or more strategies for integrating theological and missiological content with life experience and context through engaging a variety of spiritual practices around vocational formation, which is consistent with the SOT/SIS PLO “Students will have demonstrated capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.” (MDiv, MAT, MATM, MAICS). The emphases on integration and vocational formation this course provide introduction to the MAICS learning outcome related to critical thinking and integration and the learning outcome related to vocation (MAICS). This course may also contribute to various learning outcomes in the MAGL related to integrating theology and praxis in ministry and mission, and related to spiritual formation (MAGL).

COURSE FORMAT: This course meets ten weeks online (which includes required synchronous and/or asynchronous participation in vocation and formation groups) for a total of 40 instructional hours. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.

REQUIRED READING:

900 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.

A. Students in IS500 are required to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, receive a CoreClarity coaching packet based off of their top 5 strengths, and participate in a 45-minute coaching call with a CoreClarity coach. There will be a $40 charge for StrengthFinder® assessment, Coaching Packet, and Coaching Session which will automatically be charged to your student account.

B. Placher, William C. Callings: Twenty Centuries of Christian Wisdom on Vocation. Eerdmans, 2005. ISBN: 978-0802829276, Pub. Price $32.00 This book is not available electronically must be purchased [150 pp. as assigned].

C. 50 pages of Bible reading related to vocational practices.

D. SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE: Lectio Divina:

Barton, Ruth Haley. "Scripture: Encountering God through Lectio Divina" in Sacred Rhythms. IVP Books, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830833337. Pub. Price $22.00 Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [pp. 45-61].

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, "The Day Alone," In Life Together. First HarperCollins Gift Edition, 1993. ISBN: 978-0060608521. Pub. Price $14.99 [pp. 90-94 under "Meditation," assigned]. Available in E-Reserves.

E. CORE PRACTICES: Articles, chapters, videos, websites, etc., that engage the following required practices for IS500:

a. Listening:

Labberton, Mark. Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today. IVP Books, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830836833, Pub. Price $16.00 Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [165 pp.].

Wimberly, Anne-Streaty. “Called to Listen: The Imperative Vocation of Listening in Twenty-First Century Faith Communities.” International Review of Mission, vol. 87, no. 346, July 1998, pp. 331-341. Available as full-text pdf from the Fuller Library.

b. Guidance:

Palmer, Parker J. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. Jossey-Bass. 1999. ISBN: 978-0787947354, Pub Price $18.95 Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [111 pp.].

c. Lament:

Brueggemann, Walter. Praying the Psalms. Saint Mary's Press, 1986. ISBN: 978-1556352836, Pub. Price $14.00 [Chapter One: Letting Experience Touch the Psalter, pp. 15-25; Chapter Four: Christians in Jewish Territory, pp. 51-65]. Available in E-Reserves.

Witvlliet, John. Worship Seeking Understanding. Baker Books, 2003. ISBN: 978- 0801026232, Pub. Price $30.00 . Chapter Two: Praise and Lament in the Psalms and Liturgical Prayer, [pp. 39-63]. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library.

Yong, Amos. “Disability & Lament: Toward a New (First Testament) Theology of Disability” in The Bible, Disability & the Church (Eerdmans, 2011), 40-46. Available in E-Reserves.

d. Discernment:

Nouwen, Henri J.M. Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life. HarperOne, 2013. ISBN: 978-0061686160, Pub. Price $17.99 Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [170 pp.].

e. Stewardship:

Miroslav Volf's "God the Giver" from Free of Charge. ISBN: 978- 0310265740, Pub. Price 15.99 [115 pp. as assigned]. This book is not available electronically must be purchased.

Walter Brueggemann, “The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity,” Christian Century, March 24–31, 1999 [342-347]. Available as full-text pdf from the Fuller Library.

f. Simplicity:

Richard Foster, “Simplicity” (Part 3) Celebration of Disciplines Curriculum - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bY8oaNPTI0

Foster, Richard. 1988. “Simplicity” in Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, 3rd Edition. HarperSanFrancisco, 1998. ISBN: 978-0060628390, Pub. Price $25.99 [pp. 79-95 assigned]. Available in E-Reserves.

g. Rhythms of Rest:

Barton, Ruth Haley. "Sabbath: Establishing Rhythms of Work and Rest” and “A Rule of Life: Cultivating Rhythms for Spiritual Transformation” in Sacred Rhythms. IVP Books, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830833337. Pub. Price $19.00 Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [pp. 130-166].

h. Honoring the Body:

Barton, Ruth Haley. “Honoring the Body: Flesh and Blood Spirituality” in Sacred Rhythms. IVP Books, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830833337. Pub. Price $18.00 Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [pp. 78-91].

Gandalfo, Elizabeth. “Mary Kept These Things, Pondering Them in Her Heart: Breastfeeding as Contemplative Practice and Source for Theology,” in Spiritus, Volume 13, Number 2. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: Fall 2013. Pp. 163-186. Available as full-text pdf from the Fuller Library.

Leech, Kenneth, “God in the Flesh,” in Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985 [pp. 236 – 264]. Available in E-Reserves.

Suna-Kuro, Kristine: “From Empty Tomb Toward Transfigured Bodies: Pondering Resurrection with Wit,” in Spiritus, Volume 13, Number 2. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: Fall 2013. Pp. 217-234. Available as full-text pdf from the Fuller Library.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

900 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [47 hours].
Online and Vocation Formation Group (VFG) Participation: Students will participate in active learning to foster understanding of and capacity for engaging in theologically-informed reflection in the online classroom and through participation in Vocation Formation Groups. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and 4]. [32 hours+8 hours].
DLAs (Directed Learning Activities): Students will keep a spiritual-practice journal. The journal will reflect various assigned spiritual exercises related to the course practices, emphasizing Lectio Divina based on assigned passages from the Psalms, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Gospel of John. In addition, Students will participate in four Directed Exercises as follows: Exercise #1: Visit an intentional community or monastery and learn about how the people who live in the community/monastery engage in each of the practices for this course. Exercise #2: Spend 4 hours in silence. Exercise #3: Students will meet with a spiritual director; Exercise #4: Students will take part in a process of group discernment. Students will reflect on each of these projects in small-group discussion forums. (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 & #3]. [35 hours].
Autobiography: students will write a 500-word vocational formation autobiography paper and will be prepared to share it in small group discussion (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].
Fieldwork Activity - StrengthsFinders and Coaching: Students will take the Strengthsfinders Assessment and debrief the results via a phone call with a professional executive coach to learn more about their strengths and how to better grow them in use for God’s mission in the world. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1 and #2] [4 hours].
Finances and Vocation: Students will write a financial autobiography, will use a practical theology method to reflect on finances, and will create a written financial plan that supports the student’s vocational goals. This assignment is related to the practices of stewardship and simplicity. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #4]. [12 hours].
Final Integrative Assignment in three parts: Part 1: 100-word response to Fuller’s Central Integrating Question (CIQ), Part 2: Integration paper related to course practices, and Part 3: Rule of Life (2,500 words total) (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [20 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None. Recommended in first year of study.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:Meets a core integration requirement in the 120 MDiv and the 80 MAT, 80 MATM, 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.